Yesterday's End
by Pipsy
Summary: History had kept repeating itself for generations, but no more. As calamity nears, Duke and Audrey must make a decision that will either save or condemn Haven forever. A short one-shot of how the Troubles are finally ended.


All standard author's notes and disclaimers apply (see profile)

**Yesterday's End**

"You have to kill me."

The statement hung in the air, an impossible arrangement of words that refused to come into comprehension for Duke as he stared at Audrey. Everything was dark except for the erratic flashes of lightning that grew in intensity and frequency as the storm neared, the ground shivering beneath them as the wind buffeted the shack they'd taken refuge in, causing the walls and beams to groan. It was only a matter of time before they buckled or the roof was torn off; when that happened, everyone would die. A dozen or so people huddled together in the close confines, terrified and waiting for the inevitable, while elsewhere the rest of the population of Haven was similarly hiding in houses and buildings that would just as surely fail them, but there was no way Duke was going to do what Audrey asked.

"What? Are you out of your mind?" he shouted incredulously.

"It's the only way to stop it!" Audrey persisted, raising her voice as the storm grew louder.

"The only way to stop it is to get to Ballins." Duke corrected sharply, speaking of the Troubled man that was causing the violent weather with his unstable emotions.

Audrey shook her head before he even finished. "We can't get to Ballins. That leaves me. If you kill me, the Troubles will be gone!"

"If I kill you, you'll be dead!" Duke pointed out the glaring problem with the proposal.

As far as Audrey was concerned, however, it didn't matter. "We're dead anyway if you don't! You can save these people, Duke!"

"No! I won't do it!" he yelled, anger flaring at what she was proposing, at the very idea of losing her, let alone to his own hand.

"How long do you expect this to go on?" she asked, begging him now to see the necessity of it. "How many times does history have to repeat itself before we correct our mistakes? It's my fault all of this is happening; I'm the one that has to die in order to stop it!"

Duke's jaw hardened, flexing with ardent refusal, and he shook his head. "This _isn't_ your fault," he corrected, livid that the notion had been put into her head, "and you're nuts if you think I'm ever going to kill you. Don't you know what you are to me?"

Audrey hesitated, unsure if he meant what she'd hoped and at the same time hoping she was wrong for his sake and everyone else's. "It doesn't matter what we are to each other, Duke; this has to happen."

_"Never."_

"If you don't, then all of this is going to keep happening again and again; I'll keep losing my identity and my memories and I might as well have died anyway. That's no way to live. _Please_, help me!" she entreated, knowing it wouldn't help to add that she didn't want to go on living without him or without even the memory of him.

Duke didn't believe what he was hearing and refused to believe she meant it. "You're making it sound like I'd be doing you a favor!" he snarled, ready to knock some sense back into her.

"You _would_ be." she insisted.

Duke shook his head. "I don't buy it. You don't want to die."

"Wants aren't a luxury we have anymore and, given the circumstances," she turned her head briefly to a window as the foundations of the shack cracked the loudest yet and debris flew by wildly outside, "it's the better option. It's time, Duke- it's time to end this!"

There was logic in her argument, but Duke couldn't bend to it and a strange calm overtook him with this resolve even as the rest of him reverberated with another kind of building anticipation. "What if you're wrong?" he challenged. "What if killing you prevents things from ever being fixed and the Troubles go on forever? Have you thought about that? Are you really going to risk condemning the people of Haven to endless torment? As far as I can see, you're the saviour, not the villan, and saviours generally _save_ everyone!"

"Maybe this is the way I'm supposed to save everyone!" she argued desperately, recognizing a losing battle but unable to give up.

Duke raised his eyebrows in doubt, as if it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever head. "By dying?"

It sounded thin, but it was the only conclusion she had. "Do you have a better answer?"

Duke didn't hesitate. "Yes." He'd never thought of it before, but he was suddenly certain. "I may have the ability to end the Troubles in a family line, but you're immune to the effects of other people's Troubles, so I don't think killing you would work anyway."

"Then what?" Audrey demanded, options being sucked away as their time to act dwindled dangerously down.

"We do the exact opposite." Duke replied firmly.

Now Audrey was lost. "The opposite of killing me?"

"Yes."

"Which is what?" she demanded, convinced he didn't know what he was talking about and it was only his desire to spare her that was causing him to form rash and faulty conjuncture. "Bring me back to life? In case you haven't noticed, I'm not dead."

"But you're not really alive either," Duke countered, "you said it yourself; going from identity to identity, never remembering your past."

Audrey shook her head, holes emerging in the roof as shingles and boards were ripped off by the wailing winds, and lightning struck a tree outside, setting it ablaze as a tornado spun towards them in the distance. "Supposing you were right," she inquired hypothetically, still not believing it, "what is it that you propose we do?"

Duke answered without saying a word, grabbing Audrey and pulling her to him even as the roof suddenly blew off in its entirety and admitted the wind, and she was too caught off guard to react in any way as he kissed her. His lips folded over hers, soft and strong, and her heart skipped a beat before her shock gave way enough for her to respond, opening her mouth to him and kissing him back. All around, people were ducking and screaming as the storm came down upon them, but- her body pressed against his and her blond hair whipping wildly about them- she was oblivious and it was as if an electric shock was set off in her very atoms, a shiver running through her body and causing her to hold on tighter to Duke.

Almost immediately, the lightning ceased and the funnel began to break up, the fierce winds of only a moment before rapidly dying down to nothing, and the roar that had deafened the world was reduced to complete silence. Wrapped in their embrace, it was a minute before Audrey and Duke noticed the termination of the storm that had been threatening their lives and, when they did, Audrey could only look at Duke in astonishment.

"How did you know?" she wondered, her body still flushed against his and their arms around each other.

He shook his head. "I didn't. But hate started all this; it only seemed fitting that love should end it." he admitted, brushing her pale cheek with his thumb.

Audrey was amazed at the gamble he'd taken. "What if you'd been wrong?"

"Then I wasn't going to die without having done that." Duke replied earnestly, for once not caring about how sentimental he sounded. "I love you, and it was the only I answer I had."

She said nothing for a moment, staring up at him as his admission sank in, and a smile slowly formed across her face. She'd known it for a while- maybe longer than a while- but the Troubles had always stood between them, especially after it had been revealed the goal of his family for numerous generation had been to kill her. That revelation hadn't shaken her trust in him, though- something Nathan had never understood, and she'd never really been able to explain it herself. She just _knew_, without a doubt, that Duke would always come through for her and whether he was on her side or she was on his side didn't matter, didn't in fact exist.

"It's the only answer I have, too." Audrey reaffirmed. She stretched up again and met each other in another passionate kiss, sharing breath and holding on tighter, as if trying to pressing themselves into one being. The last of the gray clouds above them dissipated and bright sunlight poured down onto their faces and into their shielded eyes and, when Audrey and Duke parted, it was to gaze up at the clear sky, grinning in joy and wonder. "Do you think it's really over?" she asked Duke, it seeming almost impossible.

Duke smiled at her, his expression filled with affection. "Do you have another explanation?"

She didn't. As crazy as the journey had been, as unending as it had seemed, the stretching Day of the Troubles had finally come to a close and a new day was dawning for the first time in a hundred years. "Now what? Where do we go from here?"

"I don't know..." Duke sighed, glancing up at the blue sky, then back again at Audrey. "I guess we'll just have to see."

"But what about-" she began, only to be cut off by him, placing a finger over her lips.

He shook his head with a grin. "Enough with the questions, Parker. Enjoy the moment." he scolded playfully.

A hungry light entered Audrey's eyes and she raised herself against him once more, bringing his mouth within reach. "I can do that."

As they kissed- this time without any sign of letting go- the spectators that had taken refuge in the shack began to mill about in wonder, save for the Teagues brothers, who stared at the pair. Vince was utterly dumbfounded but Dave, on the other, had an almost self-satisfied smirk on his face.

"'No', you said, 'that would be too easy. Spells are only broken by true-love's kiss in fairytales,' you said." Dave teased his sibling, who glared down at him.

"Well, it's ridiculous!" Vince defended himself angrily, appearing impervious to the miraculous event that had just occurred. "Only a fool would have ever considered it!"

Dave just smiled, glancing at the couple still wrapped in their embrace approvingly. "To be in love is to be a fool." The way he said it, however, conveyed no negativity but only reverence, as if it were a great and noble thing to aspire to.

Vince followed his line of sight and took in the picture of Audrey and Duke but, after a moment, he shook his head. "I'm done with it! Nothing makes sense anymore, anyway!" he sputtered and began to storm off.

In a calmer gate, Dave followed, happy to leave the couple to themselves. "Then you finally know that you know nothing?" he ribbed.

Behind, Audrey and Duke broke the kiss for a breath but remained close, their noses nearly touching, and they were almost unable to see each other. "You're still a cop, right?" Duke asked, causing Audrey's brow to furrow.

That was an odd question. "Yes; why?"

"I guess that means I'll have to go straight, or else I'll be in cuffs." he replied teasingly.

That could have a couple of different meanings but, either way, Audrey slowly grinned. "Don't go getting ahead of yourself." she chided, but any attempt to sound serious failed. "It's a new day, and we've only just begun."

**So, it's not my best and it's a little cheesy (especially if you don't care for Duke/Audrey) but I thought I'd throw out a possible way it could all end without getting too much into specifics (like how it all started, etc.) I hope you enjoyed and that it was worth your time! Please review!**


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